All work of this type is generally conducted on an hourly rate basis (unless a fixed or agreed fee is arranged with a client on a case by case basis) and time is recorded in 6 minute units. Please see our current standard Terms of Business for details of our current rates. VAT is payable in addition.

Discount hourly rates may be available where bulk hours are purchased.

Total cost of the service, or average/range of costs:

This is impossible to say, because it depends on the complexity of the case and the services you require (see further details and examples below). Fees could possibly range from £700 plus VAT for a straightforward matter (admitted after the letter before action and paid), to £20,000 for a complex case requiring a two day hearing. Each case will be different and we will aim to give you reasonable estimates as soon as possible.

Please note that these figures are very wide and general - we will be able to provide you with a more specific indication of fees after discussion with you of your particular circumstances.

Disbursements:

Court fees will be required if a claim needs to be made. The court fees vary according to the size of the claim, and in addition to the claim fee there may be fees required for applications, hearings, etc. if applicable to your particular case. The court fees are subject to amendment from time to time, and can be viewed at the HM Courts & Tribunals website: https://www.gov.uk/court-fees-what-they-are

Court fees are not currently subject to VAT.

In addition to court fees, other disbursements may include travelling to and from courts, copying costs (where significant copying is required to be conducted externally), special delivery postage and courier costs for letters and packages. In addition, depending on the complexity of the case, it may be necessary to instruct an external barrister to assist with the case and/or conduct advocacy. Barrister fees will vary according to the seniority of the barrister and the length of the hearing. Disbursements other than court fees will be subject to VAT.

What services are included within the displayed price:

As our work is hourly rate, all services are included, such as -

Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation

Advising you on prospects of success and necessary procedures

Undertaking appropriate searches

Sending letters before action

Drafting and issuing of claims

Applications to court

Enforcement action

In addition to our fees, there will be court fees. Depending on the circumstances of your case, there is a risk that you may have to pay some or all of your opponent’s costs (normally if you are unsuccessful, but this may also arise during a court process prior to a final outcome).

Before incurring fees with a solicitor, you should check whether you hold any insurance policies that may cover your costs in the matter (such as Legal Expenses Cover, which may be a standalone policy or may exist as part of other cover). Even if you have an insurance policy that will cover the costs, note that it is your right to choose your own solicitor and you do not have to use one of your insurer’s panel of firms. You should discuss this with your insurer and seek confirmation of how choosing a non-panel solicitor may affect your policy.

The overall fee we charge will vary according to:

The complexity of your case (is it clear and unarguable that you are owed the debt, or does your opponent have an argument that it should not be paid?)

The time sensitivity of your case (do you require this to be dealt with urgently, or are the legal time limits shortly expiring, such that we may have to prioritise it over other clients?)

Is the matter defended or admitted (will we be required to create legal arguments against your opponent, and will it be necessary to make multiple applications to court and attend one or more court hearings?)

How much assistance do you require with the preparations, or are you able to carry out some of the work in-house

Any services not included in the price that might reasonably be expected to be included:

As our work is hourly rate, there are no services not included. However, our hourly rates and other professional fees do not include any fees payable to third parties such as HM Courts & Tribunals Service, enforcement/service agents, etc. Where such fees are required we will notify you in advance.

Details of the experience and qualifications of the teams/individuals who will carry out the work:

He supervises 3CS’s commercial, immigration and employment law work. Qualified in 2008, his experience encompasses both contentious and non-contentious practice. He has acted for a large number of international corporations, as well as charities and public sector bodies.

Receiving response from opponent - up to 30 days from the date of service of the protocol letter

Preparing and issuing claim - up to 14 days

Receiving acknowledgement of service - up to 14 days from date of service of the claim form and response pack

Receiving defence (if any) - up to 14 days from the date of the acknowledgement of service

If there is no acknowledgement of service or defence filed, it may be possible to apply for judgment in default. If a defence is received, court hearings may be necessary and the timescale will be entirely dependent on the court’s availability at the time, and on the complexity of your matter. More complex cases, for example with multiple witnesses, will require more preparation time and longer hearing dates. A “fast-track” trial may be listed for trial approximately 35 weeks later. Complex multi-track cases may take significantly longer.

Employment Law

Work type:

The provision of advice and representation to employers in relation to defending claims before the Employment Tribunal brought by an employee for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

Prices:

All work of this type is generally conducted on an hourly rate basis (unless a fixed or agreed fee is arranged with a client on a case by case basis) and time is recorded in 6 minute units. Please see our current standard Terms of Business for details of our current rates. VAT is payable in addition.

Discount hourly rates may be available where bulk hours are purchased.

Total cost of the service, or average/range of costs:

This is impossible to say, because it depends on the complexity of the case and the services you require (see further details and examples below). Fees could possibly range from £1,500 plus VAT for a straightforward matter (settled at early conciliation stage via ACAS) to £150,000 for a complex case requiring a ten-day hearing. Each case will be different and we will aim to give you reasonable estimates as soon as possible. An average tribunal case run all the way to a final hearing would generally cost in the region of £30,000 to £60,000.

Please note that these figures are very wide and general - we will be able to provide you with a more specific indication of fees after discussion with you of your particular circumstances.

Disbursements:

Court fees do not apply to tribunal claims and therefore only our internal disbursements will be required for tribunal claims. Examples of these disbursements include the cost of travelling to and from tribunals, copying costs (where significant copying is required to be conducted externally), special delivery postage and courier costs for letters and packages.

We can conduct all tribunal advocacy ourselves but if you wish to instruct a barrister to conduct any hearings then their fees will be payable in addition to ours. Barristers fees will vary according to the seniority of the barrister and the length of the hearing.

Disbursements and barristers fees are subject to VAT.

What services are included within the displayed price:

As our work is hourly rate, all services are included, such as -

Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation

Advising you on prospects of success and necessary procedures

Sending letters and emails

Drafting tribunal documents such as the ET3 and grounds of resistance, witness statements, etc.

Applications to court

Advocacy

Unlike in civil courts, there is no strict liability for paying a claimant’s legal fees if you are unsuccessful with your defence of the claim. Equally, you are unlikely to be able to recover any fees paid by you if you successfully defend the claim. Costs in the employment tribunal are exceptional and only recoverable where there has been unreasonable conduct by one of the parties.

Before incurring fees with a solicitor, you should check whether you hold any insurance policies that may cover your costs in the matter (such as Legal Expenses Cover, which may be a standalone policy or may exist as part of other cover). Even if you have an insurance policy that will cover the costs, note that it is your right to choose your own solicitor and you do not have to use one of your insurer’s panel of firms. You should discuss this with your insurer and seek confirmation of how choosing a non-panel solicitor may affect your policy.

The overall fee we charge will vary according to:

The complexity of your case: the amount of time to defend an employment tribunal claim for a misconduct dismissal is vastly different to the amount of time required to defend a complex whistleblowing claim. Factors that increase complexity include: area of law on which the claim is based, number of witnesses, quality of evidence, what proportion of facts are agreed between the parties compared with those that are disputed.

Whether you wish to defend the matter or seek to settle at an early stage.

The conduct of the claimant as they can create additional work that must be responded to.

The time sensitivity of your case (do you require this to be dealt with urgently, or are the legal time limits shortly expiring, such that we may have to prioritise it over other clients?).

How much assistance you require with the preparations for the case, or whether you are able to carry out some of the work in-house.

Any services not included in the price that might reasonably be expected to be included:

As our work is hourly rate, there are no services not included. We will give estimates to you in advance of carrying out work and will inform you about what work will be included.

Details of the experience and qualifications of the teams/individuals who will carry out the work:

He supervises 3CS’s commercial, immigration and employment law work. Qualified in 2008, his experience encompasses both contentious and non-contentious practice. He has acted for a large number of international corporations, as well as charities and public sector bodies.

Note that these are approximate timescales for when certain matters will be completed - they are not in any way an indication of the time to be spent on an hourly rate basis

Taking initial instructions - 1 to 2 days

Responding to early conciliation with ACAS - 4 to 5 days

Preparing ET3 - 14 to 28 days

Reviewing and providing disclosure of documents - 3 to 4 months

Preparing witness statements - 4 to 6 months

Attending final hearing - 9 to 12 months

Depending on the complexity of the case, the matter may be listed for a preliminary hearing to make a case management order. Generally, a preliminary hearing will take place around one month after the ET3 is filed. Any case management order made at a preliminary hearing may deviate from the above timescales and may include additional steps that are specific to the claim.

If a claimant makes an application for any reason during a tribunal claim (e.g. for specific disclosure) that will almost certainly delay the timescale estimate.

Immigration Law

Work type:

The preparation and submission of immigration applications, excluding asylum applications.

Prices:

Please note that we do not carry out the following types of work for individuals, these applications are only carried out for business clients on behalf of their workers or proposed workers:

Tier 2

Tier 5 International Agreement

Representative of Overseas Business

(including dependants, in respect of all of the above)

Our work for individual clients is charged for on a fixed fee basis:

Settlement (5 years’ work)

Settlement (10 years’ residence)

Tier 1 Start-up/Innovator

Tier 1 Investor

Spouse

EEA residence applications

BRP replacements

VAT (currently 20%) is payable on all our fees.

Total cost of the service, or average/range of costs:

For all cases, the following fixed fees may be subject to increase depending on the complexity of your case. We will only be able to confirm the complexity and therefore the fees, after discussion with you and/or reviewing your documents. Where an increased fee is required we will discuss this with you as soon as we are aware of this, and will agree with you either a revised fixed fee or an hourly rate basis. Where “dependants” are specified in the below fees, this is for dependants applying at the same time as the main applicant - dependants applying separately will be charged as if they are a main applicant. Whilst it is impossible to cover all possible scenarios in which a fee may need to be increased, the following circumstances will be relevant:

Any previous adverse immigration history;

Criminal offences;

Lack of relevant documents;

Excessive unnecessary documents;

Unusual case circumstances.

Fixed fees:

Settlement (5 years’ work) - £3,500 plus £450 per dependant

Settlement (10 years’ residence) - £5,000 plus £450 per dependant

Tier 1 Start-up/Innovator (Entry Clearance/Extension/Settlement) - from £6,000 plus £450 per dependant (please note that the fees for this category may vary according to the complexity of your business arrangements)

Tier 1 Investor (Entry Clearance/Extension/Settlement) - from £10,000 plus £650 per dependant (please note that the fees for this category may vary according to the complexity of your investment arrangements)

Spouse/Family (Entry Clearance/Extension/Settlement) - from £3,500 plus £450 per dependant (please note that the fees for this category may vary according to the complexity of your relationship history and the documents available as evidence to meet the Home Office rules)

EEA residence applications - £3,500 plus £450 per dependant

BRP replacement - £1,500 plus £385 per dependant (if applicable)

For all cases we charge an additional £100 administration fee, but do not charge extra for postage, special delivery or courier within the London area. If we make payments on your behalf to third parties (such as the Home Office, or separate translation companies) we will charge a fee of £50 per transaction.

As part of booking a visa appointment for you, we may also purchase additional services from the Home Office’s chosen third party providers. These may include additional fee-paid service centres or premium lounge appointments, etc. These will vary according to the service required and the particular service provider in question. We will inform you of these fees as part of your case, and you can review the Home Office partners’ websites - currently Sopra Steria, VFS and TLS Contact are the key providers.

If we are charged any fee by our bank for making a payment for you in a currency other than Sterling (usually around £20 per transaction) then we will add this to our invoice.

Sometimes it is necessary to obtain an official certified translation of documents. This will vary according to the length of the document and the service level requested. This may vary from around 10p per word to 16p per word, plus a £35 fee for the certification.

Disbursements other than Home Office fees are subject to VAT.

What services are included within the displayed price:

Our fees include:

Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation

Advising you on any amendments or additional documents required

Advising you on prospects of success of the application

Preparing the application form(s)

Arranging the application appointment

Advising you on requirements and procedure for the application appointment

Checking the visa/BRP card when received and sending to you

Our fees do not include additional appointment bookings (e.g. where you need to cancel and rebook an appointment - we will charge an additional fee of £385 plus VAT per rebooking). Our fees also do not include any Administrative Reviews or Appeals, and we will advise you on the fees for these if necessary.

Any services not included in the price that might reasonably be expected to be included:

We believe that all expected work is specified above.

Details of the experience and qualifications of the teams/individuals who will carry out the work:

He supervises 3CS’s commercial, immigration and employment law work. Qualified in 2008, his experience encompasses both contentious and non-contentious practice. He has acted for a large number of international corporations, as well as charities and public sector bodies.

For some cases, the Home Office may offer a quicker processing time for an increased fee. However, they will never guarantee a particular processing time, regardless of the fee paid.

We will aim to submit your application as soon as possible - i.e. as soon as you have provided all documents and information to enable us to do so. We typically find that, due to the requirement to gather documents, most clients are able to submit applications within approximately 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on the complexity of the case.

(1) Applications for a premises licence under Section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003

Our fee structure below is based on a simple application for a new premises licence:

Legal fees £4000 (based on 10 -12 hours at an hourly rate of £350)

VAT on legal fees £800

If the application is one of medium or high complexity, we will charge for the additional time spent at an hourly rate of £350 per hour plus VAT. Factors affecting complexity may include whether there is a cumulative impact policy in place, the type and size of the premises, or whether it is in a residential area.

In addition to our fees, disbursements are payable. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as the application fee. We will pay the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Application fee (payable to licensing authority): £100 - £1,095 (the licensing application fee is based on the rateable value)

These fees vary depending on the individual premises and where it is located. The fees can on occasion be higher than the ranges given above. We will give you an accurate figure for each item as soon as we are able to do so.

Our fee includes:

Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application.

Advising you as the type of plans you are required to submit with your application.

Completing the application form for a new premises licence (including the operating schedule) in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority alongside suitable plans. You must provide suitable plans.

Providing guidance on the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.

Preparing copies of the premises licence application for disclosure to the responsible authorities and serving copies of the application on the responsible authorities.

Drafting the notices advertising the premises licence application and submitting the notice to the local newspaper.

Arranging with you for you to display the notice(s) advertising the premises licence application and advising as to where and how this should be done by you in order to comply with the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.

Providing a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) consent form for signature by a personal licence holder proposed by yourself.

Checking the licence once granted and correcting any errors with the licensing authority.

The fee does not include:

obtaining suitable plans.

attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting.

dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties.

advising on varying the licence.

attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

How long will the application take?

Matters usually take 6 - 8 weeks from receipt of full instructions from you. This is on the basis of the application being relatively straightforward and you being able to provide all the necessary documents promptly. If your matter is more complex, for example, if there is substantial opposition from interested parties, or if there is a delay in receiving the documents we need, it may take longer.

(2) Applications to vary a premises licence under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003

Our fee structure below is based on a simple application for a premises licence variation:

Legal fees £3000 (based on 8 -10 hours at an hourly rate of £350)

VAT on legal fees £600

If the application is one of medium or high complexity, we will charge for the additional time spent at an hourly rate of £350 per hour plus VAT.

In addition to our fees, disbursements are payable. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as the application fee. We will pay the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Application for variation fee (payable to licensing authority): £100 - £1,095 (the licensing application fee is based on the rateable value)

Application for minor variation fee: £89

These fees vary depending on the individual premises and where it is located. The fees can on occasion be higher than the ranges given above. We will give you an accurate figure for each item as soon as we are able to do so.

Our fee includes:

Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application.

Advising you as the type of plans you are required to submit with your application.

Completing the application form for a new premises licence in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority alongside suitable plans. You must provide suitable plans.

Providing guidance on the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.

Preparing copies of the premises licence application for disclosure to the responsible authorities and serving copies of the application on the responsible authorities.

Drafting the notices advertising the premises licence application and submitting the notice to the local newspaper.

Arranging with you for you to display the notice(s) advertising the premises licence application and advising as to where and how this should be done by you in order to comply with the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.

Providing a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) consent form for signature by a personal licence holder proposed by yourself.

Checking the licence once granted and correcting any errors with the licensing authority.

The fee does not include:

obtaining suitable plans.

attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting.

dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties.

advising on varying the licence.

attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

How long will the application take?

Matters usually take 6 - 8 weeks from receipt of full instructions from you. This is on the basis of the application being relatively straightforward and you being able to provide all the necessary documents promptly. If your matter is more complex, for example, if there is substantial opposition from interested parties, or if there is a delay in receiving the documents we need, it may take longer.

Details of the experience and qualifications of the teams/individuals who will carry out the work:

He supervises 3CS’s commercial, immigration and employment law work. Qualified in 2008, his experience encompasses both contentious and non-contentious practice. He has acted for a large number of international corporations, as well as charities and public sector bodies.

Registered in England & Wales | Registered office is New Broad Street House, 35 New Broad Street, London EC2M 1NH
3CS Corporate Solicitors Ltd is registered under the number 08198795
3CS Corporate Solicitors Ltd is a Solicitors Practice, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with number 597935